Secrets Left Untold
by Lordlexx
Summary: The war with Alvarez has ended but Natsu is left with a lot of questions that don't have answers. With nothing to lose he goes to the one person that might be able to help him.
1. A 'Demon' Helping a Demon

It had been three months since the Alvarez invasion and the kingdom was on its way to recovery. Cities, towns and villages were all being rebuilt and raiders and bandits that took advantage of the confusion were being rounded up. The Fairy Tail guildhall had its 4th reconstruction completed just a week ago and everyone was enjoying a well-deserved day of rest.

Natsu was sitting at the bar slowly nursing a mug of beer keeping to himself seemingly just staring into the amber liquid. A few people had noticed this, however they elected to let the man have his peace. Even his team had noticed and despite their rivalry, Gray knew that he probably had a lot on his mind considering everything that had been revealed just those short three months prior. Especially the fact he had to kill his own brother. His team, despite allowing the man to have his thoughts to himself, made sure that they kept an eye on him just in case he showed that he was ready to come and interact with them and to make sure they welcomed him with a smile.

Despite the unspoken agreement to leave Natsu alone, one platinum haired beauty decided to use her position as a waitress to come over and talk to the pinkette, if only to subtly remind him that he is surrounded by friends that will always be there for him. She went behind the bar and prepared him one of his favorite shots of liquor.

She gently placed it down on the bar in front of him and used a match to light it up, "Fire-shot for your thoughts?" She smiled at him as he lifted his head up and locked eyes with her. It only took a second for him to break out his signature grin, with a quick "Thanks Mira!" he downed the shot and looked back at her.

"Actually there was something that I was hoping I could talk to you and Gramps about. More specifically.. ask Seilah about." He said the last part low enough so that it only she could hear it. "I can wait until your next break, I wouldn't want to make any extra trouble for you," he added at the end when he noticed her shocked face.

"No, it's alright Natsu. I actually started my break to come over and talk to you. I think master is up in his office right now if you would like to go talk now."

"Oh, okay. Thanks for taking time out for me Mira, it means a lot." His grin present on his face only made Mirajane give him one of her own as she walked out from behind the bar and walked up next to him, grabbing his arm and locking into her own. Placing firmly between her rather generous bust. Between that and her teasing smirk, the normally unaffected dragon slayer had a healthy blush on his cheeks.

"M-mira, what are you doing?!" He started to pull his arm out, but quickly gave up, she wasn't a Fairy Tail S-class mage for nothing. Her vise like grip could attest to that.

"Calm down dragon boy, don't act like you don't like it." She teased. "Besides, boobs makes everything better, even broody dragons." Cutely sticking out her tongue, she started to pull him to the stairs and up to the masters' office.

His teammates watched the interaction and smiled, glad that the troubled male was getting help and giggled at the irony of the fact that it takes a 'demon' to understand a demon.

* * *

The duo made it up the stairs and stood before the door the masters' office. Natsu took a deep breath before he knocked on the door. After hearing a gruff "Come in" he opened the door and the two mages made their way into the office, closing the door behind them.

"Natsu? I think this is the first time you've come to my office willingly," the old man teased as he looked up from his paperwork. He looked over at the beautiful barmaid and asked, "Did he break something expensive?"

"LOOK HERE OLD MAN! I don't always break stuff, and when I do it ain't my fault that someone put it in my way!" Natsu roared back, but was only met with the giggling of Mirajane and a smirk from the master. "Geh. You guys are jerks.."

"Sorry my boy, you looked out of it. I had hoped a little teasing would lighten the mood. I take it you needed to talk about something, and if I had to venture a guess it would be about your brother, right?"

Natsu was brought out of his mutterings about 'short old men' and 'demon barmaids' at Makarov's question. "Uhh.. sort of. I mean, he kinda did it and didn't really explain much, but it's about me being turned into a demon. I was hoping that maybe Mira could help me talk to Seilah so she could answer a couple questions. She's probably the only chance I got of getting any answers, I don't think granny knows much about Etherious demons."

He stated his piece and looked between the two other occupants of the room as they looked at him attentively, understand that this was something that was genuinely weighing down on the slayers' shoulders. He knew it was a long shot for him to ask, but he figured that he had nothing to lose by trying.

"I see, I don't think she does either despite her wide knowledge. Etherious aren't exactly common, nor willing to be studied. Mirajane, do you think you could get Seilah to answer any questions? Would she even be willing to?" Makarov turned his attention to the eldest of the take-over siblings.

Mirajane smile at them both before responding, "Ah ah, actually as weird as it sounds, she's actually rather enthusiastic to be of service to Natsu. Apparently when her book was written, she was 'written' to be that she would be loyal to only E.N.D. and was supposed to be a servant or caretaker for him, you, of sorts. Something like Lucy's spirits would probably be the best comparison. Mard Geer just took advantage of her loyalty." She was sheepishly scratching her cheek with a small smile and blush on her cheeks

Natsu was shocked at first but when he heard that Mard Geer took advantage of her he started to get angry, "For some reason, despite what happened it really pisses me off that he did that." A small growl escaped his throat. "Now I wish I had punched him harder."

Mirajane quickly grabbed his hand and squeezed to placate him, "Calm down Natsu. He got what he deserved and we don't have to worry about him anymore. Moving on to your questions for her, like I said, she would be happy to answer. This actually gives me a chance to show off a new ability I've been working on with her. It takes a lot out of me and I can only do it for about 30 minutes, so if master doesn't mind me having Lisanna take over the rest of my shift so I can rest I'd be happy to help as well." She stated the last bit looking over to the master with questioning eyes. Without hesitation he waved his hand to indicate that he didn't mind, and giving both males a smile she left the office.

"Thanks for taking time for me Gramps, I know you're busy with paperwork and helping the new council get the country fixed up and stuff. I know I could have just asked Mira and didn't have to bug you, but I figured that if there was something me and Mira didn't understand you might know something or be able to help us figure it out. You know, that whole 'with age comes wisdom' thing." Natsu had a slightly teasing smirk on his face, but his sincerity in his thankfulness was clearly evident on his face.

"Says the 400+ year old runt..," Makarov shot back with an annoyed gaze. "I'll always make time for one of my children if they come and ask for it, even if my children were born a few centuries before me. I'm just thankful that you brats can feel comfortable to come to me for help, I like to think that it would make the first master proud that her family trusts each other." His eyes and tone softened.

"Does this mean that I can call you a brat now?!"

"Don't push your luck boy."


	2. A Royal Misunderstanding

They shared a laugh and only waited a few more moments before the door opened back up and Mirajane holding a fresh mug of beer and a slightly timid Levy followed behind her. Mirajane placed the mug on the masters' desk and turned back around to Natsu. "I don't know how personal this talk might be, but Levy has helped me research my demons in the past and some others. I thought maybe a little bit of her insight might be helpful. That and she recently got the hang of Archive magic so maybe there might be help here."

She was looking at Natsu hoping that the additional person wouldn't upset him and to her relief Natsu just smiled at the both of them and said, "I'd be happy to have her help, next to Gramps and the First she's probably the smartest person I know. I just didn't wanna bother too many others with my problems but if she's willing then I would be an even bigger dummy than you guys think I am not to accept her help!"

Both Levy and Mirajane relax at his words and gave a smile back. Levy broke the silence, "Thanks Natsu, that's sweet of you to say. I would be more than happy to give you a hand, honestly I think pretty much everyone in the guild would be. You've done so much for us, we don't even know where to start to pay you back."

Natsu started to rub the back of his head with a slightly awkward smile, "Fairy Tail is my home, all you guys are my family. I don't even want to think about what would had happened if Gramps hadn't found me in that forest all those years ago. You guys are the last family and home I have left, my parents died over 400 years ago and Igneel is gone.. well I guess technically I have Alvarez, with being the current emperor there and all… Anyway, the only thing I want is for this place to stay the same way for anyone else that needs a home."

""YOU'RE AN EMPEROR?!"" Mirajane and Levy couldn't hold in their shock wile Master Makarov just grinned at their reactions, holding his new mug of beer. Natsu was startled by their sudden outburst, and stepped back from the girls while holding his ears.

"OWW! NOT SO LOUD PLEASE!" Natsu screamed back. The two ladies quickly recomposed themselves and apologized, however they glared at him with a look that said 'explain'.

"Right, I forgot I hadn't told anybody yet. Only like 6 other people know, I haven't even told Happy. I kinda wanted to figure out this problem first because it might have a huge impact on that." Natsu started to explain as the girls looked at him expectantly. "Well it's pretty obvious, I'm kinda surprised that no one figured it out really. Zeref is my brother and he was Emperor Spriggan. He's dead, the throne goes to the successor. Usually that would be his child, but August blew himself up, not that Zeref even knew that he was his kid. Even so, in this case, he had already named his successor, me."

"So when did you find all this out? And if you haven't told anyone then why are you telling us? Not that I mind you telling me, but I don't want to cause any problems for you." Levy questioned. "And why aren't you there now? Shouldn't you be in Alvarez helping them recover instead of Fiore?"

"Ahaha, well apparently Zeref was hardly ever there so they are pretty used to having an absent ruler. The council over there said they understood that this was suddenly dumped on me, but they really would like me to consider taking the position even if it's only for a short term to re-regulate how the country is run." Natsu started scratching the back of his head before he continued to explain. "At first I was completely overwhelmed but the more I thought about it, it was my brothers' mess. So I figured the least I could do is take responsibility for his mistake s and give a hand. Maybe I can take everything I learned here at Fairy Tail and put it to use over there, then there would be a whole country of people that are as amazing as us."

"Anyway, remember when I was gone for like a whole month?" Natsu questioned the girls and the both thought about it for a little bit before Mirajane spoke up. "I kinda do, I mostly wrote it off as you just staying out to have some time to yourself and help out with the bandits though. I was really worried but I had full confidence that you would come home when you were ready." She finished with a little pout.

"Ahh, I'm sorry Mira! I didn't mean to make you worry!" The pinkette began to panic only to be met with a giggling Mirajane that grabbed his arm again. "Ufufufu~ It's ok Natsu, I always worry when you go out on missions but you always come home so that's what matters. I know there's nothing that could keep my favorite dragon slayer down… well aside from transportation." She looked up at him with a playful smile and poked his cheek. "Just don't go and try to prove me wrong, make sure you always come home to me."

Natsu responded with his signature smile and said, "Don't worry Mira, I'll always come back. I've been all over Fiore and a couple other countries and your food is still the best. That's one of the top three reasons I'm having so much trouble deciding on the whole Alvarez thing, I haven't figured out how to convince you to come with me. Even if you taught the chefs in the palace how to cook like you do, I don't think it would be the same without your smile to go along with it."

Mirajane, unsure of how to react, just looked at him stunned with a blush to match Erza's hair. At first she was a little upset at the revelation that he just wanted her for her cooking, however after remember who was speaking and what he was talking about it hit her hard. He was saying that SHE was one of the reasons that he was hesitating on taking the throne to a really large and prosperous country. That coupled with the fact that the dragon slayer's top three priorities in life were food, fighting and family it just added to the fact.

"Thank you Natsu, I'm glad my cooking means that much to you. But knowing that, now I'll never reveal my cooking secrets." Mirajane recovered and returned his smile. "Looks like if you want my cooking then either you stay at Fairy Tail or you drag me along to your new palace." Then after a second she her gaze became flirty and she closed the distance between them, pushing her generous chest on his side and bit her bottom lip, then ran a finger down his chest slowly. "Although I might need a little more incentive to go or are you just going to kidnap me and lock me in your tower, you big. Bad. Dragon Emperor?"

Natsu, despite the blush that he was sharing with the innocent Levy from Mirajane's antics, decided to try and tease the platinum-haired beauty back leaned down with a small smirk and whispered in to her ear, low enough that the other two occupants of the room couldn't hear him, " _The council did ask me about any possible Queen Consorts. Empress Mirajane has a nice ring to it, right?_ "

"Ahem." A small cough came out of the petite bluenette that had just had her blush outdone by the usually porcelain skinned Mirajane, who remained frozen next to Natsu, by several shades. "Anyway Natsu, you were telling us when you found out about you being the successor."

"Ah, right. Well while I was out teaching bandits a lesson, I was near Crocus so I went to go and take a break after I handed off the bandits. When I was handing over the trash to the rune knights I learned that there was an APB for me. At first, my reaction was to make like Gildarts and disappear. They managed to tell me before I left that they didn't know much either and that all they were told to tell me that I was needed at the palace. So they wrote me a note to give to the guards so that there wouldn't be any confusion in case they weren't told. Confused as I was, I decided to just go. I figured I kicked all the royal guards asses once, if need-be I can do it again and ditch out." Natsu shrugged his shoulders at the end, his comment causing Master Makarov to roll his eyes and rub his temples and mutter about 'beating some manners into pink-haired idiots'.

"So I go to the castle and I get rushed into this room with a huge table and a couple of maids told me that someone would be with me shortly. Still confused, I sat down and waited but it wasn't long before Toma, Hisui, and three of the Spriggan 12 came in; Invel, Dimaria, and Brandish. At first I was a little on guard but Hisui told me that they were here to talk about cease-fire and a possible peace treaty. To be honest, that really made me ever more confused as to why the hell _I_ was there." Everyone chuckled at the last comment but he continued. "So I asked them, and Invel just flat out told me that Zeref had named me, his brother, as his successor and they were there to talk to me about that as well as the other stuff. He said it would be easier to try and do it all together instead of having to explain everything several times. I listened the best I could 'cause I figured it was pretty important, but I really didn't get much of what Invel and Toma were talking about. Hisui was really nice and did her best to try and break it down for me, but a lot of it still went over my head. She told me that it was ok and I really couldn't be blamed for not understanding with all things considered and told me that she wouldn't mind helping me out and teach me the basics. At first I panicked but then I figured she couldn't be any worse than Erza so I was gonna accept, but then Invel told me that they had wanted me to come back to Alvarez with them even if it was just a short time so that they could kinda parade me around, something about keeping morale up for the citizens. At first I was hesitant because of everything going on and the guild, but then gramps showed up and told me that it should be fine if I went. He just said to try not to be gone to long because he couldn't keep it from the guild forever."

"Master you knew about this?" Mirajane, who had recovered while Natsu was telling his story, ask the short man behind the desk.

"I did, I didn't share it with the guild to try and respect Natsu's privacy. That and to try and avoid any publicity problems for us and the kingdom that we might get for Fairy Tail housing the next emperor of the country that just attacked us. I figured he would share in time and even if he didn't, it's his choice to make." Mirajane and Levy nodded in acknowledgement of the old man's words and turned back to Natsu to see if he had more to add. He saw this and continued his tale.

"Well my first concern was the HOW we were going to get there, I knew they came by boats and airships and I'll be damned if I'm staying on of those deathtraps that long. Then master told us about the anti-motion sickness lacrima that Blue Pegasus had developed and Invel assured me that they would undoubtedly secure that technology from them should I agree. Then I told the king that I thought that every form of transportation should be required to have that, he laughed at me, but I was dead serious. Although apparently Invel took that to heart. He said he would insure that it would be done in Alvarez without delay." Natsu nervously chuckled that last bit. "The next thing I asked accidently caused a few problems, but it wasn't until I actually went to Alvarez that it was realized. I had asked if Hisui could accompany me telling them the she had said she would be willing to try and help teach me more about politics and basics of running a country. The Invel, Dimaria, and Brandish didn't have any problems with it, Hisui was a little surprised at me asking but then she seemed excited to go and visit another country. Toma was a little hesitant at first, but he gave in after making me promise that I would absolutely keep her safe. Of course I gave my word as a Fairy Tail mage and so it was decided. While we waited for Blue Pegasus and the group from Alvarez to get their airship ready, Hisui went ahead and started teaching me.. let me tell you, it was like 1000 times better than when Erza taught me how to read!"

The group in the office just laughed at the poor dragon slayer, all of them knowing that the red head often went over the top when she was too focused. After they were done laughing at Natsu's misery, Mirajane piped up, "So Natsu, what problems were caused by the princess going with you to Alvarez?"

"Ah, that one. Hehe." Natsu scratched the back of his head once again in nervousness with a small blush on his cheeks. "Well it was pretty much a huge misunderstanding that wasn't caught by anyone until it was too late. But to sum it up in a general sequence of events; the Empire went to war, a new Emperor comes back, said new Emperor gets paraded around to try and keep moral up, Emperor was accompanied the princess of the country they just invaded, rumors spread and made their way to the palace who were already informed of Hisui coming with us, and by the end of it when we were shown our rooms to stay in, the 'rooms' turned out to be a single room.. Mine. Apparently the entirety of the servants in the palace had heard the rumors and thought I was bringing Hisui to become my new consort. So, in order to 'encourage' us and show their support, they had prepared various… articles… for us. Like lingerie and various oils and candles."

By the end of his explanation he was sporting a health blush a few shades darker than his hair and he was joined by Mirajane and Levy. Master Makarov had let out a little perverse giggle at the thought of his 'plight'. Mirajane remembering what Natsu had whispered to her earlier hesitatingly asked, "Natsu, you didn't DO anything with the princess did you?" There was a little more bite in her voice than she intended, but she was relieved when she heard him finish explaining what happened.

"WHAT!? NO! We honestly didn't even realize it at first because we were so in our own world talking. I didn't think anything about it because the first room we entered was like a living room with couches and stuff so in the back of my mind I just assumed that maybe it was just a common area for 2 different rooms or something. When we were done talking I called in a maid and told her we were ready to go to our rooms, she disappeared into a room and came back out and said something like 'the room is ready, enjoy your night Your Majesty', not really being used to all the formal stuff I just kinda ignored her thinking she was talking to Hisui and went check out the room thinking it was hers and I just wanted to make sure it was safe, you know. Well when we both went in there were candles lit and some sort of incense being burned with a really lacy outfit laying on the bed. When Hisui saw it she panicked and ran out of the room. I was too concerned with what might be wrong with her to try and figure out WHY she panicked, then she explained to me that the room was intended for us to share. At first I was confused because I've never had a problem sharing a room or a bed with Erza, Wendy, or Lucy before on missions, but then my brain caught up and thought that sharing a bed with a princess probably wasn't the greatest idea. At that the realization hit me like a train of what the meaning of the stuff in the room was. Needless to say I apologized and then ran out to find a servant to try and fix the misunderstanding. They were horrified that they had made such a mistake and over the next couple days Hisui wouldn't even look at me, and Dimaria and Brandish wouldn't stop laughing at me. Invel apologized to the both of us but I could see the grin on the smug bastards face. It took three days of apologizing and promising a date to get Hisui to talk to me again."

Levy and Mirajane were laughing at the situation the poor man was put through knowing that he really did feel bad for putting the princess in an awkward situation even if it wasn't his fault. Both glad that it seemingly didn't escalate from there and an international incident wasn't caused by the pyro. Though it really wouldn't be surprising considering his track record.

"What's worse is that it didn't end there! After we got back to Fiore, Hisui had told her father about it and after assuring him that nothing had happened and it really was just a misunderstanding, HE started teasing me about it. Asking things like if that was really why I had stolen the crown after the Grand Magic Games and if I had intended on taking responsibility and started calling me son-in-law. The only one that didn't take it to kindly was Arcadios, he 'bout lost his shit when he heard. Thankfully Toma calmed him down before he got a flaming punch and explained it was just a lack of communications and nothing came of it other than some embarrassment that wouldn't get out to the public anyway."

With this last revelation the 3 other occupant of the room couldn't hold in their laughter anymore and just let it out at the poor man's experience. Mirajane and Levy both wrapped the fire mage in a hug to try and sooth him, but their laughter along with the hug wasn't getting them very far.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Just keep in mind you're laughing at an Emperor you peasants."

"Oh my, is the Dragon Emperor going to punish us? We are just lowly little peasant girls, we don't know any better." Mirajane was once again pushing herself onto Natsu, and Levy, who was already there, just decided to go with flow and look at him with the most innocent look she could give with mock fear on her face.

"Geez, what is it with take-over mages and teasing me?! I swear everywhere I go they are there. I grew up with you and Lisanna and even in Alvarez, Dimaria wouldn't leave me alone after we made up on the trip there."

"It's because you're so cute when you are flustered. I never talked to Dimaria, but I bet she would say the same. Would you like me to invite Jenny over? We can see if it really is you and even if it is you should be grateful for the attention from 4 beautiful women. You could have a nice little harem of take-over mages."

"A tempting offer, but don't promise something you can't deliver." Natsu reached down and grabbed Mirajane's ass and was rewarded with a cute squeak. Levy, seeing their shameless flirting acting up again, decides to go and sit down on one of the couches in the room before she gets dragged along with it. "Just do me a favor, keep Elfman away. I don't roar that way and I'm sure he doesn't either with how far he's gone with Evergreen, but if he ever decides to switch teams I have an entire nation and army to keep him away."

Master Makarov was watching the little show in front of him with a small smile, glad that his children are growing up and even gladder that they can accept Natsu despite the fact that he is a demon and not treat him any different. Especially considering he's also royalty now. However he also knows that they have gotten off track from their original purpose and he still has a lot of paperwork to do.

"If you brats are done flirting in my office, I do believe that we came here with a different purpose."

Mirajane, ignoring the hand that was still on her ass, spoke up, "Right, Natsu wanted to talk to Seilah. Ordinarily only I can talk to my take overs and that's only when I was meditating, but Seilah gave me an idea to try and use my magic a little different. It's similar to thought projection magic except that it's using my demon souls as the image and they are solid, capable of fighting with me and have their own semi-free will, they still follow my orders but don't need orders to act. Like I said, it's experimental and I've never used it before in combat, just training the technique and I can only do it with Seilah so far."

She turned to Natsu, "Are you ready? Like I said before, I can only do it for about 30 minutes and it takes a lot out of me after."

"Yeah, I'm ready. No matter the answers I get or don't get I know I have a home here at Fairy Tail." Natsu moved his hand off her soft rear end and slid it up around her waist as she closed her eyes to concentrate.

" **Partial Soul Release: Seilah**!"


	3. Understanding Himself

As Mirajane activated the spell her body began to glow and slowly an outline of her body started to move forward away from her like an avatar made of light. After a few moments the shape of the of the avatar slowly morphed into a different silhouette; horns began growing out of the head, the body taking shape of a curvaceous woman, and long, straight hair was flowing out. After the general form had taken hold, the color started to fill in starting from her golden horns going to her raven black hair and ending with her pale skin. Before long a beautiful woman clad in a short, blue leopard print kimono and black, thigh high stockings with her hair tided back with a white ribbon.

The female Etherious looked around the room seemingly sizing up the people occupying it before turning to Mirajane.

"I see that you are becoming more and more proficient at that technique, Mistress Mirajane." When the occupants of the room heard how the demon referred to their friend, they all had varying reactions. Master Makarov had a perverted smirk on his face, Levy, for what seemed like the 20th time since stepping foot into the office had another blush on her face looking between the two. And Natsu, he just looked dead at Mirajane with the biggest teasing smirk he could muster.

"Seilah, I've told you before not to call me that!" Mirajane squeaked out. She was trying to ignore the various looks that her guild mates/master were giving her, but that couldn't stop the small tinting of her cheeks.

"Forgive me Lady Mirajane, I suppose old habits die hard." Seilah closed her eyes and offered a small bow before standing back up straight and turning to Natsu. "Master E.N.D., I expect no forgiveness for transgressions I've committed against you and your mistresses. If my soul wasn't already bound to Lady Mirajane, I would happily offer my service to you for the rest of eternity to try and make up for it." With this stated she bowed even deeper towards him.

"M-mistresses?" Shock had taken over the fire mage while the rest of the rooms expressions intensified with Mirajane and Natsu switching roles from the teased to teaser. With a hand covering her mouth Mirajane inquired, "Oh my, is that how you see us Natsu? Poor Lisanna will be heartbroken to find out she's not the main wife and just regressed to a mistress. Let's not even get started on Erza, you know how competitive she can be, especially against me. Ufufufu~" Her teasing smirk had outclassed Natsu's by leagues by the end, with her comments causing him to shudder as he imagined either situation.

"I don't think Erza would even pay attention to what she was trying to compete for and then once she found out she would blame it on me and try and punish me for being a pervert." There was a forlorn look his eye as he thought of the single-minded red head before he focused back to the other Etherious in the room. "Seilah, to be honest I do feel resentment towards what you did, however I'm not the one that you should seek forgiveness from first. The man behind you, you harmed his children. Short of the people involved themselves, you need to earn his forgiveness before mine would ever come. Unfortunately that is going to have to wait for another time, as you should know I have a few questions that I have no answers to and you are the only one that I can think of to ask."

Seilah stood back up and looked at Mirajane with eyes that seemed to ask permission to continue, which was immediately granted. She then turned back to Natsu, "Master E.N-." "Natsu, just Natsu." "Master Natsu, I would be more than willing to answer any questions to the best of my abilities. The opportunity to assist you brings me great pleasure."

Natsu awkwardly scratched his cheek, still not used to having servants. Much less, servants with this much enthusiasm to serve. He put his hand down before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to calm himself down. Releasing the breath and locking eyes with Seilah once again, he began. "I guess I should start with my biggest question first. Are Etherious, or rather, am I, immortal?"

The room was in a dead silence at the question. Master Makarov closed his eyes grimly, realizing the full implications to that question. Was Natsu going to outlive everyone? Would he have to stand by and watch as everyone he knew and loved grew old and died? If he settled down and took a wife and had children, would he have to watch as they grew up, questioning him why he never got older, then was forced to bury his own children when they grew old? Would his children inherit the curse of immortality having his demon blood in their veins? Or even the seemingly unrelated question, could he even have children?

Levy, even as smart as she was, took a bit longer to understand Natsu's question in full just like the now somber guild master had. When she did, she covered her mouth with a gasp and tears began forming in her eyes and running down her cheeks. She knew how much the guild meant to the dragon slayer and how he didn't always react well to change. She could imagine the guild in 50 years when everyone was older, yet Natsu still retained his youth going out on missions with a new team. A team made up of his best friends children or even grandchildren. She knew that he would still care for and protect them all the same, but she also knew that it wouldn't be the same.

Mirajane, after her own realizations, did the only thing she could think of and wrapped her arms around the man, burying her face in his chest to try and hide her tears. She understood why he was so torn between the guild and going to Alvarez. If he was going to be forced to watch as his family grew older and turned to dust, wouldn't it be better to just leave on a high note and distance himself from them so that neither party had to experience that rather unnerving future? The worst part was, she knew in her heart that if he knew that it would cause less tears and pain to everyone else, he would do it without any questions. He would take all the pain and suffering that he could to protect them. That's why he had kept all the information and his thoughts to himself, so that he wouldn't burden his family with this absurd situation. He didn't want his family to try and tell him that they would be fine when in truth, this was an unfathomable situation for either party.

Natsu, after seeing everyone's reactions, knew that they were smart enough to figure out most, if not all, of his hidden meanings to his inquiry. He wrapped his arms around the crying woman in front of him, gently petting her head in a futile effort to try and calm her down. His gaze shifted to all the people present before once again resting on the beautiful, raven haired demon. His uncertainty must have been transmitted to the woman in his arms, because she just held him tighter, unwilling to let him go.

Seilah, still not fully understand human emotions, stayed quite as the room reacted to the question. She took in his query and thought about the best way to answer, attempting to read the room. Her time with Mirajane had given her a better insight to humans and she knew that the humans in the room reacted negatively to the question, though she didn't understand why. Deciding that a straight-forward answer would be the best to avoid any misunderstandings, she opened her mouth to give her thoughts.

"The Etherious do not age, so with my understanding of our race that would imply yes, we are immortal. Although, Mard Geer and I have only been around for a couple hundred years, the extent of our supposed immortality had yet to be fully realized." The answer did no favors to the rest of the groups feelings, though there were thankful for an honest answer. "However, you, Master Natsu, are different than the rest of the Etherious."

This got some questioning stares from 3 of the 4 people, Mirajane refusing to move in any way. "You were created with the base of a human body while the rest of the Etherious we born of pure ethernano. I would assume this is why you have aged. What that means for you lifespan or your aging process, I'm afraid I cannot answer that. You are Etherious that much I can sense now, but you are also different. Even when we fused the demon particles with other humans, the compatibility was a major factor, we had no subjects that lived past a few years. Clearly you have lived much longer as well as pushing the limits of your body to extremes. Normally that would cause the body to breakdown faster. Lord Zeref never granted us with the knowledge of your conception, only a vague understanding of our own, knowing that we could not mimic it. Once again, I am terribly sorry for my incompetence Master." Finishing with a quick bow, she understood enough that this was going to take time for the attendees to assimilate this information.

While the others took in the information, Natsu, who kept is arms around the barmaid, kept a stoic face. "No, Seilah. You did what was asked, I never expected to have a straight answer in the first place. Truthfully I had thought about it and had assumed that I was different than the rest of the Etherious as you said. I just wanted a second opinion. Is there anything else you can tell me about my body? Weaknesses? What my curse power actually is or how to use it right? That and that Hell's Core thing, would that work for me? I know the demon particles healed Mira and she's just a take-over mage, not an actual demon."

"Just a take-over mage, huh? I'll show you an actual demon," Mirajane, who had pulled her head out of his chest, looked up at Natsu indigently with puffed cheeks.

Natsu looked down at her stunned that she would react to that, also a little glad she was in the mood for teasing all things considered. "Shush you, you know what I mean. You're the best and most beautiful take-over mage in the world." As he said that he pushed her head back into his chest and gently held her there, but he could feel the smile on her face as she squeezed him in retaliation and murmured into his chest, "And don't you forget it, mister."

Waiting for their interactions to cease, Seilah thought over the questions she was just asked and when they were done and straightened out her answer, she started to talk, "About your body, aside from sharing the Etherious durability that we all had to an extent, I cannot say. We share the same general physiology as humans. We just do not have the need eat, though we can still taste and process foods the same. The ability to procreate also remains in the same manner that humans do, even the genitalia is the same. Biologically we should be able to reproduce with a human partner as well, however I am uncertain if an ordinary human female could actually carry the child safely though. We never saw the need to test it. However, as stated previously, you are different. You are biologically more human than the rest of the Etherious were, so in an educated guess, reproduction should prove to be no issue. Although there may be compatibility issues such as needing a strong mate that can handle the child, because without a doubt it will be a powerful child. If I may even be so bold to state, Lady Mirajane would be an ideal partner for you. The demon particles in her body due to her magic would very likely allow for a healthy conception and pregnancy, and we all know for a fact she is a strong female. That, and her will-"

"OKAY SEILAH! I THINK WE'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THAT SUBJECT! Thank you!" In a blushing fury, Mirajane had loosened herself from Natsu and turned on the demon. She looked at the other two occupants of the room and Master Makarov had a knowing, teasing smirk on his face, and Levy, along with her blush was had her hands in front of her mouth still, but the facial expression behind it was completely different. The petite girl was trying to hold back her laughter and teasing the woman that was usually the one that let her matchmaking get the better of her. Unable to take the stares she was getting, she backed up into Natsu and grabbed his scarf to cover her face. "W-we can talk about that stuff at a later time.. that is if it's necessary." She said the last part peaking over the scarf, staring the Etherious.

"Very well, forgive me Lady Mirajane. Continuing about your body, your magic; Dragon Slayer magic in general, not just for you but all of what you call first generation as well as the two that call themselves 'third generation', have a naturally lengthened lifespan. Again, it is unknown how long. Acnologia lived for well over 400 years, but he was affected by the dragonification just like Irene Belserion. Irene being the first and Acnologia being one of the first dragon slayers. However, both are dead and we possess no method of bringing them back, not that I would recommend do so for the latter. However, picking the brain of Irene could lead to a trove of knowledge about dragon slayers, her being the one that created the magic."

"No," was the immediate response from the dragon slayer in the room. His voice cold and fierce. "As much as I would love to let Erza make-up and have a real relationship with her mother, unlike my brother, I believe the dead should stay dead. No matter how much heartache it may cause." This declaration was met with approving nods from the 3 humans in the room. "Besides, I have something from Irene herself. When I went to Alvarez part of Zeref's will was carried out and part of it was 3 information lacrimas. I don't know their full contents, but I know that one was from Zeref himself and another was from Irene. Well, I don't think she knew it would go to me, but Zeref left a note saying that he had ordered her to fill one with everything she knew about dragons, dragon slayers, and their respective magics. I wasn't given them until I was about to leave and since I've been back I haven't had time to look through them, well that and I don't know Archive magic. Only person that I knew that had it was that pretty boy from Blue Pegasus and he may be an ally, but the information on dragon slayer magic isn't something I'm willing to trust to someone that is just an ally."

His gazed turned to the bluenette, whom he had just been told earlier that had said magic. "Levy, if it's not too much trouble would you be willing to help me sort through it with your Archive magic? You're one of the few that I know I can trust with this knowledge. I'd like to go through it and give all the dragon slayers any relevant stuffs to their dragon or magic. I may not want the title, but apparently it's not something that I have a say in so I might as well act like it every once in a while." The last sentence was said under his breath, but sulking barmaid in his scarf heard it and look at him with a questioning gaze. He returned it with one that said he would explain later before looking back at Levy when she spoke up.

"If you're gonna say all that then I have to help you out. I'm honored that you'd trust me with something like that. Gajeel told me once that arts, knowledge and magic that the dragons passed down to their children or their slayers was really personal, so I kinda understand how serious this is. Whenever you're ready just come grab me, I'll make time. Although I only know the basics so far, I can try and teach you the magic too so you can look through the one from Zeref. I bet that one has a ton of personal stuff on it." The smile on her face was testament to her eagerness to both be of use and learn more about dragon culture. That and the amount of trust her friend was putting in her.

Natsu's infamous megawatt smile came across his face, "Thanks Lev, I'm sure that Gajeel and Wendy would be fine with you being the one that gets to see it. Also I'd love to learn Archive magic, it looked really nifty when Hibiki used it on the Oración Seis mission. I've been getting Bisca to teach me Re-quip magic too. I'd ask Erza, but I can't bring myself to go through her teaching methods again." As he shuddered out the last part, Levy, Mirajane, and Master Makarov let out short chuckles at him again.

"Anyway," recomposing himself, Natsu looked back at Seilah and Mirajane unhid her face ready to get back to the talk. They only had about 10 minutes left and Natsu could see the Mirajane start to get tired so he wrapped his arms around her to give her support. "What about weaknesses, my curse power and that Hell's Core thing."

"Of course," assenting to him she continued. "Your weaknesses also tie into your base form, E.N.D. is a fire demon as I'm sure you know, so the basic weaknesses would be the same as your slayer magic, however you will be far more susceptible to Devil Slayer magic of any element. As far as I'm aware, Gray Fullbuster is the only known Devil Slayer. Demons tend to not teach others how to kill themselves, Silver Fullbuster of course was an exception as he was human first. Your own natural resistances and magical resistances can of course help in making up for these weaknesses."

"As for your curse power, I could not tell you short of what I said previously, you are a fire demon. We were born with the knowledge of our curse and how to use it. Perhaps Lord Zeref left you some information in one of those information lacrimas he left you. On the other hand, the Hell's Core you mentioned would likely be able to help out immensely. It can never be used to its full capacity with the absence of the Underworld King in the sense that we could resurrect your body should you die, however as a medical treatment facility for you, or even Lady Mirajane, if either of you should be heavily injured. As well as a research facility to attempt to learn more about your own physiology and nature."

"If it's something that can help Mira, as long as it doesn't require sacrifices or other anything similar, I want it. I'll go on as many jobs as I can to pay for it." His clear answer at the revelation that it could be used for her gave Mirajane a light blush, but she also swirled around to face him poking him hard in the chest. "It's for you too mister! You may always come to our rescue, but the state you come out of it in makes me cry. If the Hell's Core can help keep your reckless ass in one piece, then I'm all for it. I'll even go on the jobs with you to help pay for it."

"Hehehehe~ Going on jobs together to build your own secret love nest. How scandalous! It seems like you're trying to get a leg up on the other mistresses." Mirajane turned around to a teasing Levy and saw that even the master and Seilah were holding their laughter. Levy couldn't hold it for long at the face Mirajane had and fell off the couch laughing. "I can see it now, you use your cooking to lure him in to the place that can keep you both healthy and that can help monitor your baby's progress. The other girls sure have a huge gap to fill!"

Mirajane, not being used to being the one teased, just got more flustered and turned to Natsu for him to help her only to find that a blush that was equaling hers on his face as he tried to avoid eye contact with her. Once again not being able to take the stares she once again found her solace in the scaled scarf.

"Seilah do you happen to have the plans to know how to build the Hell's Core?" Master Makarov broke the teasing with a question that cause Levy to calm down and sit back down on the couch, Natsu to turn his head back, and Mirajane to peek out from behind her shield from the mean people.

"I do, however as it would be rather hectic to try and explain it all to Lady Mirajane as she has no understanding of engineering, if you happen to have an empty information lacrima, I can transfer all my knowledge about both the Etherious and the Hell's Core blueprints to one. Although I can't do it in this form, I can work with Lady Mirajane to transfer it when she meditates."

"Good, it's settled then. After I can review the blueprints and approve them, the guild will assist in building it. Sorry Mira, your secret love nest won't be so secret. If this facility can be used to save the lives of even one of my children, then I find it as a necessity. Also despite Levy's teasing, what Seilah said earlier about Natsu and him having children has me concerned. If it can help him bring his children into this world safely, whenever he might see himself ready, then that alone is its own reason to build it. His happiness may come second to him, there are clearly others that are concerned for him in more ways than one. It would bring me great joy to see new lives brought into this world, just so long as it's after I've retired and don't have to look at the repair bills anymore from you heathens."

Before anyone could react, Seilah began to glow and condensed down to a glowing ball before shooting back into Mirajane's stomach. As soon as the light was gone, Mirajane lost all power in her legs and collapsed. Before she got far, she was already in Natsu's arms in a princess carry.

"I guess time was up. I'll take her to the Infirmary so she can rest. Thank you for all your help gramps. You too Levy, I think I'm gonna go take a job with my team. I know they have been worrying about me, so I guess it would be good to go explain some stuff to them. When I get back we can get together Levy, I'm sure Gajeel can live without you for a few days."

With that said he turned to the door and Levy ran up to open it for him and the both walked out. Master Makarov sat back into his chair looking down at the empty mug.

"That poor child's fate has been damned since he was born, I hope his parents and Igneel can give us strength to support him. I'll be damned if I leave this world before I see that boy have his life and happiness in his own hands."

* * *

After leaving the masters office, Levy and Natsu parted ways after a quick good-bye, and Natsu went to take his charge to the infirmary as Levy went back downstairs. After he entered to room, he set her down on one of the beds and pulled the sheet to cover her. He reached up to fix her hair and get the few loose strands out of her face with his hand lingering longer than he intended while he looked down at her beautiful blue eyes. When he was pulling his hand away about turn to walk out, she reached up and grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Natsu, I know you're strong. Hell you're probably the strongest person in Ishgar right now, but be safe. Please be safe and come home to me, I'll always be there for you when you come home." Mirajane looked him straight in the eye and took a deep breath before finishing, "No matter where your home might be, if you promise to always come home to me, I promise I'll always be there to welcome you back."

Hoping her meaning was transmitted to the usually dense man, she squeezed his hand before she let go. As if responding to her heart, then next thing he did surprised her. He unwound his scarf and rewrapped it around her neck before saying, "I'll be back for that." And walk out of the infirmary, closing the door behind him. Mirajane, with tears and a smile on her face, buried herself in the overwhelming warmth that the scarf offered before rolling over and succumbing to her exhaustion.

* * *

Coming out of the infirmary, Natsu went over to the banister and saw his team and saw them still talking amongst each other. He smiled at himself, glad he had such a great team. Then a devious smirk appeared on his face.

"Hey Erza!" He shouted out, she stopped talking and looked up at her teammate with a questioning gaze. "Let's go on an S-class mission, a monster extermination one. I need a ton of jewels and I wanna punch something and I don't think Gray's face can handle it. It's a win-win."

"What was that, you flaming pile of dragon shit!" Came the expected response from the ice mage. "You wanna try saying that to my face?!"

"GRAY! LANGUAGE! And put on your clothes!" Erza looked at the offender with a harsh glare, who starting looking around for his clothes only for Juvia to be holding them out for him already folded. Erza then looked back up at Natsu with a kind smile, "Sure Natsu, you can even pick it out as long as you tell us what the jewels are for, I've never seen you too concerned with money so it makes me a little curious."

Natsu already had a job in hand and was taking it to the bar to get stamped off before he turned back to his team with a smirk, "Sure, that's fine." He started to walk out of the guild and was at the door before turning back and saying, "I'm building a secret love nest for me and all my mistresses! I gotta build a demon spawning facility for all little me's to come! See you guys at the train station in a couple hours. Come on, Happy!"

"AYE SIR"

After the dragon slayer and his winged feline companion had left, the entire guild was completely shocked into silence. There were various reactions, mostly blushes from the girls and wide eyes and a gaping jaws from them men. However the most unexpected reaction was from a petite bluenette that just started cackling out of nowhere and yet again had fallen out of her seat. All the while holding a Pantherlily tightly, quickly exhausting him of his air supply.

"You all heard him, he needs your help to build his love nest! Now get going!" Master Makarov had come out of his office to hear the last bit of the conversation and decided to go along with it. Without realizing it, his team had responded to the Masters order and was out the door before they could question him.


	4. Coming Clean with His Team

Walking down a forest path was the duo that had left the guild stunned, Natsu had his hands behind his head while Happy just floated alongside him. The feline was uncommonly quite for the most part of their short journey to their forest house, however there were some questions that were floating around in his usually fish-filled head.

"Hey Natsu, I know I just kinda went with the flow back there but it really didn't seem like you weren't joking about that last bit. I'm not gonna force you talk about it but I'm still curious."

Natsu turned his head a little to look at his companion before giving him a small smile, "Don't worry buddy, if you can wait till the team is together I'll tell you all together. I'm sorry for kinda keeping to myself recently, there's just been a lot going on so fast that I couldn't really keep up. I ain't really the smartest with this type of stuff, so it took a lil bit to work through it so that I could understand it all."

Happy returned the smile before floating up and landing on his usual perch, Natsu's head, before responding. "We understand. You've had to deal with a lot from Igneel dying last year all the way up to the war and then the stuff with Zeref. We know you haven't had it easy but just don't forget we are all here for you."

"I know, I could hear you guys talk about it all the time. It's just the stuff that I'm gonna tell you, there really isn't any way you guys could help. It's all stuff that involves me or is about me so it was better for me if I figured it out for myself. Mira was an exception due to her having taken over Seilah and being able to talk to her. She had some answers to questions I had and I know Mira was happy to be able to help to. She was getting really worried."

The Exceed seemed content with his response and they had arrived at their house so they went in to gather their mission essentials. This particular mission meant that they would likely be camping out for 2 or 3 days but it was just an extermination mission so there wasn't much needed other than small personal comfort items. Paired with the fact that the two are getting the hang of re-quip magic, their loads were relatively light.

"You ready to go Happy? I wanna get something to eat before we head out." Slinging his pack over his shoulder, he did a last scan of the room to try and make sure he wasn't forgetting anything while making his way to the door.

"I'm ready to go!" Happy zoomed towards him and took his usual spot in the nest of pink hair. "Where are we getting food from? The guild? That might get annoying and we might be late for the train, Erza wouldn't like that."

"Nah, Mira is still resting so it's not worth it to deal with all that. Probably just gonna grab something from the food stalls in the market. There's something I wanna check there anyway."

A smug grin came to Happy's face as he looked down at his companion. "So Mira would make it worth it to tempt Erza's wrath? _You liiiiiike her~!_ "

A small blush lit up on the dragon slayer's face as he awkwardly tried to look to the side while walking out the door. "I think I really do actually. A lot has happened recently and the main thing that keeps going through my head is 'How would Mira react to this' or 'I want to show this to Mira' or something like that. I thought that way with Luce, Erza and Wendy on jobs but it was always job related stuff or just something in the moment, but with her it seems different. Is that how you feel with Carla?"

Not expecting the upfront confession nor the questioning getting turned back on him, Happy froze. "I-uh, uhh…. Yeah, it really is. Every time we would go out on missions and I see something like a horizon or something neat, I wish she was there so I could share it with her. Then when she is there I get so excited I start acting like an idiot and ruin it half the time."

The duo started laughing at each other as they made their way back down the forest path back to town. After they settled down, they just stayed quiet and enjoyed the forest scenery that they had become accustomed to after all these years. Hardly anything every changing except the path they walked on became a little more worn out. Observing this, Natsu decided that he wanted a little change.

"Happy, when we get back from this mission, we're going to ask our white haired heart thieves on a date. We are the best team ever, if we tackle this together, I know we will come out on top like always!" He raised his fist in a cheer and was quickly joined by his longtime best friend, "Yeah! Nothing can beat us when we are together!"

Sharing a laugh, they entered Magnolia and started making their way to the market.

* * *

As they were making their way to their favorite food stalls, Happy was singing a fish song that had no tune or rhythm and pretty much just consisted of him saying 'fish' in various different ways. When they had collected all of their eats, they made their way to the East Park to sit down and relax before they made their way to the train station after picking up Lucy at from her apartment. The one time he didn't do this, she seemed really upset and it took him going out shopping with her to get her back to normal.

Suddenly stopping eating, Natsu put his nose in the air and started stiffing, "Oh, it seems your white haired one is make her way to you." Natsu put on a teasing smirk behind his hand, looking down at Happy sitting next to him on the bench. At that, his eyes went wide and glanced around him at all the fish bones. Letting out a short cry, he started hurriedly clean up the bones and the bench.

About that time the heard the familiar voice of the youngest dragon slayer call out to them. Putting on a cheerful grin, Natsu waved back as the mirror pair of slayer and exceed made their way over to them.

"Hey Natsu, Happy, are you guys about to head out on your mission?"

"Yeah, we were just grabbing a quick bite to eat before going over to Lucy's place to help her pack and then head to the station. Erza likes us to get there like 15 minutes early in case there are changes to the train schedule. What are you guys up to?"

"Oh, um. We were just, uh-." Wendy had started fidgeting and playing with her hands while looking down, for some reason she seemed really nervous.

"Oh come on Wendy, out with it! You can't be shy like this forever. If you keep this up, you'll never be able to con-." Wendy quickly grabbed the nagging Exceed and put her hand over her mouth. "Carla, don't say it out loud! I'll do it when I'm ready!"

Looking back up at the pair on the bench, she readied herself and asked, "If it's not too much trouble, can I come on the mission with you guys? I don't intend to be on the front lines because I know I'm not ready for that. However it is an S-class mission and I figured it would be better if you had a healer close by in case someone gets hurt." Letting out a long breath, she released her captive and looked back up at Natsu with hopeful eyes.

"Sure, I don't really mind. The safer the better but we still gotta ask Erza first. She is still the only S-class on the team at the moment, so she has the final say on stuff when we go on S-class missions. If you can be ready for a 3-4 day campout mission and be at the train station in like 40 minutes then we can ask her there."

A large toothy smile, reminiscent of Natsu's own, broke out on her face, "Sure! I'll be there!" With that she took off towards Fairy Hills. As they were leaving Natsu turned to Happy and asked, "You ready to head to Lucy's? I'm sure she has some stuff for me to keep in my bag for her."

"Yeah, let's go. I wanted to ask Carla if she wanted to join me for a pre-mission fish though."

Chuckling at his friend as they left the park, "Just wait till we ask for the date. If you behave yourself on this mission maybe she'll see a new side of you and agree to the date. We gotta try and be better men for the women in our life."

"So basically we ignore everything Master, Gildarts and the other perverts tell us?"

"Exactly."

* * *

Making their way through Magnolia and arriving at Lucy's apartment, Natsu and Happy made their way to the front door and Natsu brought out a key from his storage space and unlocked her door and they walked in and he locked the door behind them.

"Did you borrow her spare key from Mira again?"

"Nah, Luce gave me this one. Said she might as well if I was going to keep coming into her apartment anyway. She just wanted me to come in the front door like a normal person and swear to never lose the key. Part of the reason I wanted to learn re-quip magic, makes it harder to lose things."

Acknowledging his answer the pair made their way into the living room and were making their way to the couch before they heard Lucy yell out at them. "Natsu, is that you?"

"Yeah. Me and Happy were stopping by to pick you up and see if you needed any help packing."

"Could you do me a favor then? I left my towel on the bed, could you bring it to me?"

"Sure," Natsu responded as he made his way to her bedroom and Happy went to her couch and grabbed one of the many magazines on the coffee table. "Though it's kinda silly of you to forget your towel."

"Well it ordinarily wouldn't be a problem to just get it myself but its not good manners to walk around your house naked when you have guests."

"It's just me 'n Happy. Happy is a cat and I've lost count how many times I've seen you naked." Having grabbed the towel and opening the bathroom door to hand it to her to be greeted by the nude form of one Lucy Heartfilia in the tub. "See? I'm not gonna turn into some mindless pervert just cause I saw a beautiful woman naked."

Rolling her eyes at her friend walking in and him seeing her naked for the umpteenth time, she made no effort to try and cover herself either. "Natsu, girls are usually raised to not show their naked bodies to anyone but their significant other." She stood up out of the tub and pulled the plug to let it drain then grabbed the towel from Natsu. "And it's a little off putting that you don't react to my body, it doesn't do my self-esteem any favors."

Natsu just shrugged his shoulders. "I was raised in a forest by a dragon and then came to Fairy Tail where Erza violently insisted that skin ship and bathing together was perfectly normal, so I'm not gonna apologize for my view to be different from most peoples. As for me not reacting to your body, that is due to Erza, Mira, and Lisanna. They pretty much beat into me that I shouldn't ogle women or objectify them. You're beautiful Luce, don't let anyone tell you any different."

While they were talking, Lucy had wrapped the towel around her and they had made their way over to her vanity where she sat down and grabbed her brush but paused when Natsu complemented her. Her skin turning another shade of red from her bath. "Thanks Natsu, that makes me feel better." When she went to start brushing her hair, Natsu grabbed her brush from her and she gave him a quizzical look.

"We are running short on time, I'll do your hair and you can do you lotion."

Keeping her quizzical look, "You can do hair?"

Laughing Natsu responded while he started to brush her hair, "Not anything amazing like Cancer but things like washing, brushing and basic hairstyles like pigtails, ponytails and braiding I mastered a long time ago with Mira and Erza. I even did a mini spa day for Mira, Erza, Levy, and Cana one time. I did a natural mud bath, a massage and I washed their hair. It wasn't anything fancy, but they said they enjoyed it and now Mira and Erza come and ask for a massage every time they come back from a photo shoot or a long mission. Levy and Cana ask me randomly for one too."

By the time he was done talking, Natsu had finished brushing her hair and had put it in braided pigtails that went over her shoulders and Lucy had finished with putting on her lotion. Standing up she walked to her closet and pulled out her travel bag and set it down before going back in to get dressed.

"Wow, I never knew you were so multi-talented. Why haven't I gotten a massage? I'd kill for a spa day."

Natsu walked over and grabbed her travel bag and put it into his storage before responding. "Well since you joined the guild it's been a huge roller coaster of events and I only ever offered to them that one time. They came to me after that for it. That and you're really sensitive about people seeing and touching your body so I guess I just instinctually avoided it. Sorry"

Lucy giggled at him as she came out dressed from her closest in what seemed to be something akin to a school girl outfit, a short sleeved white button up shirt that was tied at the bottom, a red plaid skirt that only covered half her thighs and knee high black boots. "It's ok, to be honest if you had just offered a massage out of nowhere I probably would have kicked you." She twirled around showing off her outfit, "What do you think? I bought this the other day."

Natsu looked her up and down and shook his head. "I think for someone so sensitive about people ogling her you sure do dress like you want them to look. Other than that, you look sexy. You sure that's what you want to wear on a mission?"

Happy at the 'sexy' comment she let out a smile. "I just feel more comfortable in clothes like these. I got my body from my mom and I want to be proud of it and not keep it all wrapped up all the time. I know it invites unwanted attention sometimes but I'm confident that I can beat any of the perverts that want to get to handsy. I'm not a Fairy Tail mage for nothing, you know! And I have my Star Dresses for fighting so it should be fine, these boots are actually special made to be good for hiking as well as being sylish."

"I always knew you were weird. Come on, we are running out of time. We gotta ask Erza if Wendy can come too. She wants to come to be an on-site healer and get some experience."

They walked out of her bedroom with Natsu calling out to Happy telling that they are leaving. With him joining them, they walked out of the apartment locking it up behind them and made their way to the train station.

"So Natsu, you mind explaining about your mistresses and secret love nest?" Lucy gave him a playful glare. She knew that there was a joke in what he said when he left the guild but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was some truth in there as well. Not that she would admit it to anyone but during her bath she was thinking about a possible future of her and Natsu having children and what they would look like. She was pleased with her results.

Receiving a chuckle from both the males, Lucy got a curious look on her face before Natsu spoke up. "Sorry, Happy asked me the same thing and I expect Erza to as well. Just wait till we are on the train and I'll talk about it and what has been on my mind recently too. I know you guys have been worried about it and I feel like I can talk about it now that I've gotten some answers for myself."

Satisfied with his answer, she grabbed his hand and arm and hugged it as they were walking and laid her head on his arm. "Good, I'm glad. I've been worried but unlike a certain somebody I know how to respect someone's privacy." She looked up at him and cutely stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep it up and I'll start getting in the bath with you."

"I feel like you would really do that…" Lucy nervously chuckled.

"Like I said, 'violently insisted that skin ship and bathing together was perfectly normal'. No part of that was a joke. I can understand it from your point of view that you don't want just anyone looking at you but if you trust that person with your life, even if you don't intend to have sex with them, there what's the point of being bashful. I'll never take advantage of you. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like seeing you naked or enjoy it when I accidently cop a feel but I'm just not going to make a big deal out of it because that's what makes it awkward. As for my apparent lack of shame, you've seen me naked before, tell me what exactly I have to be ashamed about? My body is forged from my hard work and training. Just like you said you got your body from your mom and want to show it off, I'm proud of my training."

"Besides," Natsu grabbed one of her hands that was wrapped around his arm and placed it on his abdomen. "I know for a fact that you like the results of my training." His teasing smirk paired with her hand feeling his iron-like abs and her brief though of his nude body from the conversation left her with a health blush that was quickly matching the color of Erza's hair.

" _She liiiiiiikes you~!_ "

"S-s-shut up!" Stumbling over her words she takes a deep breath. "You know what, I do like it! You admitted to liking my body earlier, so it's only fair that I do the same. Your body is very attractive to me! So, I like it…" The blush returning full force, she gathered up her courage and looked straight into Natsu's eyes. "I like y-." Stopping her from talking suddenly was Natsu's fingers over her mouth. Shocked, and a little disheartened, Lucy looked up at him with a questioning gaze.

"It isn't that I don't appreciate your feelings, or even that I don't return them... it's just that something like that with me isn't an easy road. Luce, there's things about me that I've never told you mostly due to it not being a conversation topic that one just randomly brings up but a relationship with me isn't something someone like you deserves, you deserve better."

On the verge of tears, "Don't you think that's something for me to decide?"

"I do, but only after you know everything. It wouldn't be fair otherwise. I'll explain it to you all later after I tell the team the other stuff. Erza already knows it, Gray knows too but it isn't relevant to him and Wendy, well that isn't for me to decide if it matters to her or not."

Trying to calm herself down and not let her heart get broken while she hangs on to her sliver of hope, she allows Natsu to wipe away her tears. "Does it have to deal with you being a demon? That doesn't bother me Natsu, I saw and read your book. I know that you are a good person."

"That's part of it, but it's not that I don't think because I'm a demon I don't deserve love or I can't love. What I'm talking about will be part of what I'll be telling you guys on the train."

Accepting his words she rewrapped her hands around his arm and laid her head back against his arm as they arrived at the train station. Looking around they seemed to be the first ones there so they walked over to an empty bench that would leave it easy for the others to find them. They sat down with Happy on his perch of Natsu's head and Lucy sitting right next to Natsu, so he draped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in. She just nestled herself into him embracing his warmth.

They didn't have to wait long for the next teammate to show up in the form of an ice make mage. He walked up and greeted the trio before sitting down next to them. Natsu decided to not let the silence break over them.

"Is Juvia coming along?"

"Nah, she said she's made plans to go on a job with Gajeel and Lily last week. She was kinda bummed that she didn't get to go with us on this job."

"Well damn, I'll have to apologize to her when we get back. Maybe she'll like to fish with us again, she enjoyed it last time."

Curious, Lucy looked up at him, "You've gone fishing with Juvia?"

"Yeah, we had tons of fun! I've actually gone fishing with a lot of the guild members. Mira, Lisanna, Cana, though she just napped most of the time. Went with Erza once, never again. Macao and Romeo go with us once a month and Wakaba joins us every once in a while. Gramps and Gildarts go all the time. I've gone with Bisca and Auska when Alzack was out on a job. I've invited Levy before too, but she didn't fish and just read and watch me and Happy play around. Laki made our fishing poles with her wood make magic so they won't break even with the bigger fish. Juvia is like the best person to fish with when we are actually wanting fish. She can catch the fish with her magic every time."

Giggling at Happy's enthusiastic "AYE SIR!" Lucy was amazed. "I didn't know that you spent so much time with all the other guild members. I usually see most people stick to their own groups."

"That habit likely came from Lisanna's outgoing personality when they were younger and it rubbed off on him, thankfully in a good way. I've never heard any complaints when other members go on outings with Natsu, so I assume things go well." The new voice startling almost everyone in the group, Natsu having smelled her coming knew she was close, Erza had shown up.

"Erza you're the only one that I've ever met that screwed up fishing. You got angry because none of the fish were biting and changed into your Lightning Empress armor and was going to electrocute the whole pond." Natsu retorted.

Embarrassed at her shameful actions being revealed and the sound of sniggering coming from her teammates, she turned her head away from them with a small blush and murmured, "Shut up!"

"Don't worry Erza, there's other stuff we can do besides fishing. I enjoy just getting to hang out with you." Natsu tried to make her feel better with a smile added on. It seemingly worked because despite her blush staying she gave him a smile back.

"By the way Erza, Wendy wanted to go on the mission too. I told her I didn't mind but since it's an S-class you had the final say. Since its monster extermination she wanted be an on-site healer and I think it could be a great experience for her. The mission is clearing out a nest so having her there with us can only help."

"Hmm, having a healer there would be advantageous and enchantment magic would likely be of great help as well. Very well, I assume you told her to come here then so we shall wait another 5 minutes before we board the train."

"Don't worry, she's almost here. I can smell her."

Lucy shook her head, "No matter how many times I hear that, it still sounds weird."

The group laughed at her comment and waited another couple of minutes before they could hear the fast footfalls of their final companion rushing up to them.

"Sorry I'm late everyone! It's my first S-class job so I didn't know what all I should bring and I ended up re-packing several times."

Erza smiled down at the youngest dragon slayer, "Worry not, if you are missing anything that is needed, just let me or Natsu know. Extermination missions are Natsu and I's specialty, so we can cover the essentials."

With this being the first time Lucy heard of this, looked at Natsu questioningly. "Luce, I'm a dragon slayer. My magic is designed for taking down the biggest and strongest beings that have ever walked Earthland. Everything else is just small fries. I guess gods are about the only thing that can match dragons but I got something for that too." As he finished his sentence, he lit his hand that wasn't around Lucy on fire. However it wasn't his ordinary flames, they were black.

Wendy having been there when Natsu first saw and acquired the flames spoke up, "Are those the god slayer flames?! I didn't know you could use them again."

Extinguishing the flame, "Yeah, I only recently got the knack of it when I was training with Dimaria when I went to Alvarez."

""ALVAREZ!"" Erza and Lucy shouted, looking at the dragon slayer in shock.

"Shhh you dumbasses! Don't just shout that out like that. The war only ended 3 months ago. Come on, let's get on the train. Stuff like that is gonna be a part of what I wanted talk to you guys about anyway." With that, he stood up walking over and grabbing Wendy's pack and put it away in his storage just like with Lucy's.

"Oi! If you're carrying peoples stuff, get my bag too!" Gray held out his bag towards the pinkette.

"Carry your own shit, Popsicle dick. Haven't you ever heard that it's polite to carry a ladies bags for them? Sorry, but I don't intend to become one of Juvia's love rivals."

With Natsu walking away from him towards the station entrance and the girls giggling at him, Gray just clicked his tongue and threw his pack over his shoulder and started following the group that had also started toward the station. The group entered the station and went to the boarding area, scanned their passes and then headed towards the train.

"Guys, down here. I wanna show you something." Natsu spoke up as they were about to board one of the carriages.

"Natsu, I don't think this is the appropriate time to go on one of your misadventures." Erza strongly declared.

"It's fine, we are getting on the train, just somewhere else. Follow me."

After walking past a couple of carriages Natsu spoke out, "Ah, here it is. Look." He pointed to the door of the carriage that nobody else was bothering to enter. The group looked closer and saw the Fairy Tail Emblem on the door.

"What is this Natsu? I wasn't aware that Fairy Tail had a personal car on this train."

"A month ago, we didn't. However after talked to Toma I worked out a deal with him. Let's call something like a reward from the kingdom for our efforts in the war. There's more to it but that's the easiest explanation."

"Toma as in King Toma? Natsu, I know that he favors you and have a complete disregard for authority but I cannot allow you to refer to the king of our kingdom just by his name!" Erza's anger nearly peaked.

"Calm down Erza, he told me to call him that," Natsu said casually while opening the door and walking into the carriage. "You will understand better when I tell you my story. Besides… it's better than the other name he insisted I call him…"

Lucy, trying to diffuse the situation, spoke up. "So what is so special about this car? Is it really only for Fairy Tail members?"

"Yes and no. Any Fairy Tail member can use it, but it has a different purpose that's unique to Fairy Tail and Sabertooth. Wendy already had some experience with it."

"The anti-motion sickness lacrima? The one that Blue Pegasus developed?" Wendy curiously questioned.

"Bingo!" The group had all gotten on the car and sat down with Gray sitting across the aisle from the others, Wendy sitting next to Erza and Natsu next to Lucy. "I convinced Toma to install them on at least one car on trains that go to Magnolia, Crocus, and that town I can never remember near Sabertooth's guild. The end plan is to have them on all the cars, but they aren't easy to produce so it's pretty slow going. So until then, we get a little special treatment."

Happy, after having been quiet for a while, spoke up. "I was wondering how you were planning on telling us your story on the train when your motion sickness was going to make you useless."

Everyone in the car started laughing at the Exceeds comment.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up now. You won't be laughing soon you filthy peasants. Anyway, I owe you guys this, so here's what's been going on with me since the war and what happened earlier in gramps' office."

Natsu then proceeded to tell his team about his inheritance from his brother, his trip to Alvarez, his demon physiology and the meaning behind his joke when he left the guild as the train left the station.

 **A/N:** **I know its been a while since updated. I apologize for nothing. I said previously that I hadn't really planned anything after the last chapter so I had to think up a bunch of stuff that I could write about to add to the story. I've got part of the next chapter planned out but I have no idea when it will get done, I have my kids this weekend so I will be paying attention to them rather than anything else. If you have any ideas for stuff you wanna see then leave a review with it or message me. Keep it slice of life based, I don't plan on this having any major conflicts in it. Also I'll be updating the previous chapters with their corrections (grammar, spelling, ect.) as well as my other story. Thank you for reading!**


	5. When a Demon Decides to Hunt a Dragon

Meanwhile back at the guild.

Lisanna was humming to herself while delivering peoples orders. It had been a few hours since Natsu and his team had left the guild shocked into silence with the exception of one cackling bookworm. Most of the members had tried to pry information out of her but she adamantly refused stating that it isn't her story to tell and to wait until the slayer in question wants to talk about it. Lisanna would openly admit she was curious but she knew she had another source of information that owed her for her current work shift.

She returned to the bar after giving out all her assigned orders and was greeted by a smiling Kinana, who was wiping down the counter. "Hey Kinana, mind if I go run up and check on my sister? She probably feels guilty about missing her shift and will want to help out with the night rush and closing."

"Sure! That's fine, though she doesn't have to come back tonight. We just got those two new waitresses so we aren't hurting."

"I know, and I'm sure she knows too. But she's gonna want something to distract her for the next few days, trust me." Lisanna had mischievous smile on her face while Kinana had a confused look, not understanding what the youngest Strauss was talking about. With a giggle, said Strauss turned to skip off with the comment, "I'm sure you will figure it out," tossed over her shoulder before she made her way up the stairs towards the guild infirmary.

A few of the guild members watch her ascend the steps, envious that she was likely to get the scoop from her sister. Though all of them knew that she was the only one capable of doing so. Mirajane kept everybody's secrets and would never betray their trust but when it came to subjects between Natsu and Lisanna, she would spill the beans to the other either for her own amusement or because of her matchmaker habits… or both. Most likely both.

* * *

Lisanna entered the infirmary with her usual cheerful smile on her face. "Big sis! Are you up? You've been up here a while, if you mess up your sleep your skin won't forgive you!" Calling out to her sister with a tease, she approached the bed that was blocked off by the divider curtain. Before she reached it, she heard someone speak from the other side.

"Don't you worry about that for a second lil sis! I have a secret that keeps my skin super silky, soft and shining!" An enthusiastic reply came from beyond curtain. Giggling at her sisters excited reply to her tease, she slid the curtain to the side enough to allow her passage to see her eldest sibling sitting at the head of the bed in a cute guts pose and bright smile on her face. Letting the curtain fall behind her as she walked up to the bed to hop down and plop onto the bed next to her sister.

"You gotta let me in on your secret, recently my husband has been talking about mistresses and babies. I have to do something to get his eyes and hands back on me. At least until I have his first baby. I won't be denied his firstborn." Mirajane looked into her sister's eyes that were full of conviction and started giggling uncontrollably.

"Laugh all you want, I'm 100% serious! I know I can't have him to myself nor can I be his queen so I won't settle for anything less than his first child. You other hussies can fight for the order after that."

Mirajane, after calming down, smiled a sweet smile at her sister, glad that she's never given up on her love even after all this time. After being separated for those 2 years she knew intimately that Natsu's love for Lisanna had indeed waivered, however after she came back, Mirajane took one look at them and she knew that all their old feels fell right back into place but with one major hiccup. Natsu's slayer heritage. Levy had done some extensive research, at Mirajane's own request, to look into dragon slayers and their habits. Despite Levy's own curiosity on the subject, which boosted her enthusiasm to do the research, she turned up a rather disappointing amount of information. It wasn't until they scoured the magic library for 2 months and had gotten chased off by Porlyusica that they decided to break down and ask Master Makarov, only to find out that the Magic Council had put a gag order on the majority of information regarding any form of slayer magic. Disheartened for different reasons the nearly gave up until the master had asked them why they were researching that particular subject. He of course wanted to wholeheartedly trust his children that they wouldn't do anything dangerous or illegal with the information, however he had made the same mistake with his very own biological son with the result of his grandson going through a hell that no child should have to experience.

Levy's response was, "If I had to put it into words, it would be for knowledge for the sake of knowledge. However we have our very own dragon slayer in this guild and it would be terrible if he needed help and no one was able to help because of ignorance. Especially if he found out that it was the Council that was the one withholding the information…"

Mirajane's answer was accompanied by a blush, "Umm, Lisanna used to talk about how his magic greatly affects his instincts and behavior. With her gone, I was hoping to learn more about it so he could have a friend to talk to and be there for him in case his body starts going through… changes. Amongst other things…" By the end she was averting her eyes from the other two that had teasing smirks on their faces that just made her blush more.

Makarov had smiled at his children, glad that their thirst for knowledge had stemmed from a genuine concern and love for a fellow guild mate. He had told them, "The potential destruction of the Council buildings notwithstanding, I can tell that your reasons come from your heart. I'll see what I can do to get my hands on the Council's compilation of information. In the meantime, you two should go and talk to the boy in question. Even though your heart is in the right place, maybe there is something that he may not want being out in the open about him. Tread carefully my dears."

Needless to say, the son of Igneel never felt like he had anything to hide from his friends, though the two did tell him about the council's gag order on the information. Surprisingly he took that really well understanding the council's decision, apparently Igneel had told him that dragon slayer magic was made up of dragon magic and it was extremely dangerous and humans have a tendency to lose themselves in power.

"So what's up Mira, I figured you would come back downstairs when you woke up. It's not like you to sit back and let others do your work. Not that I mind, you need a break every now and then too."

Mirajane smirked at her little sister glossing over what she had just said earlier, her concern was real but as appreciative as she was that Lisanna was worried for her, Mirajane had heard things that made her matchmaker senses fire up. She couldn't resist poking her nose in to it. "Before that, you said get his hands _back_ on you. Meaning they've been there already. Has my cute little Lisanna climbed the stairs of adulthood on the back of a dragon?"

Not really expecting her sister to turn things on her in that way had unconsciously muttered, "He was the one that climbed on me when I was on my back…," before she realized what she had said. Immediately her face turned redder than a tomato and her shining blue eyes opened wide before she clamped her hands over her mouth.

"Ufufu~ it seems like the dragon has had a taste of kitty cat." Mirajane's big sister teasing mode and matchmaker mode had just been thrown into overdrive. The last time this happened was when Elfman and Evergreen were gone for a week for a day long job that was from a shop down the street from the guild. However not even she could have predicted her little sister's reaction to her tease. Somehow her already tomato red face had turned atomic and started glowing from behind her hands that had had moved to try and cover her face. Picking up on what her tease could have inadvertently meant and her sister's reaction, the perceptive barmaid's eyes opened wide as she grabbed Lisanna's shoulders.

"OHMYGOD! YOU USED YOUR TAKEOVER TOO?!" At her sister's exclamation, Lisanna wiggled out of her Mirajane's grip and started trying to burrow her way into the sheets in a futile attempt to escape the incoming barrage of questions. "Oh no you don't missy! You get your butt back here and spill the beans! I need to know what my future emperor likes! I'll happily concede the first child because it's you but I'm aiming for queen! Well I guess Empress in this case."

Lisanna, having been chased under the sheets, gave up and turned to gossip with her sister. "You keep saying emperor and empress, explain that and I'll spill. Then we have talk about your feelings for my husband that you're finally admitting."

Mirajane looked at her baby sister with red, puffed cheeks. Embarrassed and annoyed that she had both been found out and hadn't gotten the full story before she had to spill in return. "Fine, deal. But you can't tell anyone else under any circumstances, these are Natsu's secrets. I'm only telling you because it's you and it affects you too, especially with what you just told me. I have no doubt that you would have told you when he got back, so I'll help him out and support him just like a good wife and empress should."

With that the two smitten, white haired sisters started gossiping well into the night. Lisanna finding out about Natsu's recent inheritance, his demon physiology, and her sister coming to terms with her feelings she had been suppressing. That along with discovering that she nearly lost out on getting Natsu's first time to her while she was in Edolas. Mirajane got all juicy details about Lisanna's encounters with their mutual target of affection. Apparently his sexual appetite was a large as his normal appetite.

Giggling after their sister time, Mirajane stated something they hadn't thought of until then. "Poor Elfman, both of his sisters are going to be taken by the same man. I can just see him going on about Natsu not being manly enough."

"I'm sure he will be ok with it, maybe not at first but he knows we are big girls now. Besides, even if we go with Natsu, he still has Evergreen. I bet marriage isn't far off for those two, they've been together since the trials."

The girls were brought out of their thoughts by someone knocking on the door and it opening. "Miss Mirajane? Miss Lisanna? Are you two still up here? It has been a while and it's quite late, the bar is already closed. I just wanted to come and check on you two before I left for the night."

Lisanna, who had left in the middle of her shift, jumped up and panicked. "OHMYGOSH! Kinana, I'm sooo sorry! I totally ditched out on my work!" Jumping off the bed and throwing the curtain divider open, she darted out and hugged the purple haired barmaid.

Smiling at the panicked girl and returning the hug, "It's okay Miss Lisanna. I told you that we would be ok with the new waitresses. Miss Evergreen also assisted us after a while as well. I figured you had a good reason for not coming back down so I didn't want to bother you."

"Ooo, now I feel even guiltier. We were just up here gossiping and lost track of time." Releasing the hug, Lisanna backed up and her cheeks had flushed.

"Don't say that, sisterly bonding time is important as well. You said that Miss Mirajane would need the distraction so just think of it as that. I hope that you two at least had fun, that's what matters."

Lisanna's kind soul was making it hard for her to accept the instant forgiveness for her negligence so she turned to her sister that was walking up to them, "This is your fault big sis. Making me say unnecessary things," she pouted out.

Mirajane, completely unperturbed by her sister, just stuck out her tongue at her and said, "No no, this is on you. Running off and playing with a boy and not telling me about it. Especially _that_ boy. What naughty younger siblings I have, getting ahead of me in love. Wherever did I go wrong?" Mirajane's fake pout could be spotted from a child. "Is anyone else still in the guild Kinana?"

Smiling at the sisters, Kinana answered in the affirmative, "Yes, your brother and the Thunder Legion are still here. He didn't want to leave without you two, what an adorable little brother. Oh, and Miss Evergreen didn't want to leave without him. I'm so jealous, I can't see Eric for another week because he's on a mission to Bosco."

The Demon's eyes widened at this knowledge and a mischievous smile graced her wickedly beautiful face.

"Uh oh, that smile means nothing good for someone. Kinana, be prepared to run."

While her sister was praying for the poor soul that was going to suffer at the hands of her idea, Mirajane had already walked past the two and had called out, "OH, ELFMAN!"

The two remaining in the infirmary had decided to follow to see what the Demon was up to. As the exited they came down the stairs to see that Mirajane had already found Elfman and was talking to him.

"Big sis, I'm glad you're up. I was waiting for you so we could head home together." His smile meant that he hadn't noticed his elder sister's smile. The males of the Thunder Legion had however, and backed up away from the mountain of a man. Evergreen, in an attempt to show her support for her boyfriend had remained by his side though.

"Aww how sweet! Too bad you won't be going home with us though…," turning her head towards the faithful girlfriend, her smile had actually sweetened up but the aura of mischief remained. "The real target was me!?" was the only thing that was heard before the Demon revealed her plan. "Evergreen, girls' night, my house, no questions. Kinana is coming too."

The group of people, aside from the Strauss sisters, were all confused as to what was going on. However the Demon's rampage didn't end there.

"Elfman, you're not allowed to come back until you find a place for you and Evergreen. You three," she indicated towards the male members of the Thunder Legion, "will put him up and help him until he has gotten a good enough place that will make her happy."

"Big sis! Are you kicking me out?"

"That's a rather mean way of putting it. I prefer a calling as being a loving big sister and encouraging her brothers' relationship. Recently I've found out that I'm losing my spot as the older sister because of my little siblings trying to get ahead, so I'm reinforcing my position. Are you telling me that you intend to put poor Evergreen second to your sisters' forever? You have to man up and take care of her properly or you're only belittling her feelings. Such a brother isn't manly at all."

By the end of her tirade, Mirajane's smile was only a smile in name only.

"O-of course I'm serious about her! My love for her is the manliest!" Elfman roared out flexing his muscles. What he didn't notice, but everyone else had, was Evergreen's reaction to his loud and bold declaration. She had turned red from her neck up to her ears. While their relationship was common knowledge, neither of them had open expressed or announced their relationship.

In her embarrassment she could only slap him, repeatedly. "You dumbass! Nitwit! Elfman!"

In his confusion of suddenly being hit and insulted the only thing he could get out was, "Why did my name become an insult?"

"Well, now that that is settled, let's go girls. We have a long night of gossiping and squeezing embarrassing stories out of you all. Then you are all going to help me plan to trap… er, capture the heart of my future husband."

As the girl group walked off and left the guildhall, Laxus, who had watched the whole encounter with a smirk on his face, spoke up. "Well, this should prove interesting. When a dragon and a demon hunt each other, who will come out victorious?"

"In this situation, I do not believe that there really would be a loser. Perhaps only if some poor fool that would stand in-between them would there really be a loser." Freed, responding to his leaders question while looking at the still stunned Elfman pitifully.

"We are talkin' 'bout Natsu and Mira doin' the horizontal tango right? And Elfman bein' Elfman right?" Bickslow, who was paying more attention to his 'babies', was confirming what little he had heard.

"Pretty much. Well let's go, it's too late to start tonight obviously but we better get started early to help that poor fool find a place. You all know how picky Ever can be. Somebody smack him so we can go."

"By your will, Sir Laxus."

"Hey Elf-bro," Bickslow being left behind, started sending his 'babies' at Elfman's head to wake him up from his stupor. "We're rolling out!"

"Roll out!" "Roll out!" "Roll out!"

"Huh? Oh, ok. Thanks guys, I'm sorry about my sister's selfishness. Though I guess she's right, I love my sister's more than anything in the world but I can't neglect Ever because of it. It isn't fair to her. Alright tomorrow we are going to find the manliest house ever!"

Seeing that the 'poor fool' had recovered, they all had exited the guild heading towards their shared apartment, none of them had noticed the figures standing at the top of the stairs.

"What a lucky man. Men all over Fiore would weep if they knew what is probably going happening here in a few days. Oh well, I can't think of a more fitting woman to support him in his endeavors."

"I couldn't agree more gramps, though I admit I'm looking forward to the cat fight between her and Erza about it." A perverse chuckle came out from the taller figure.

"MY GUILD!" And a cry from the short figure.

* * *

The female camp, being led by the Demon, made their way towards Fairy Hills so that Evergreen and Kinana could pack an overnight bag. And so that Mirajane could kidnap two others for her girls' night. Not that they knew it yet. The group walked in relative silence but it was a pleasant one, the most being said was both Mirajane and Lisanna thanking Evergreen for picking up their slack and thanking Kinana for being so understanding and praising her for ability to manage the bar despite her being so reserved.

Upon arriving at their first destination the two residents went to their rooms to prepare for their night of fun. Mirajane on the other hand headed towards her final two guests(?) for the night, Lisanna followed along as cheerful as ever greeting the various residents of the dorms.

"I guess Levy is one of the ones we are here for but I'm curious who the other one is. Based on the trend it would have to be someone that snagged themselves a dragon slayer. The only one left in the guild is Laxus…"

As the younger sister was pondering who the lucky gal was, the older sister had stopped in front of a door and had knocked. A moment later they heard someone cursing from the other side of the door as if they had stubbed their toe. Another moment later the door and the owner of the room looked at her guests with a surprised look before narrowing her eyes at the older one.

"Mira. I wish I could say that it's pleasant to see you but you standing here this late with that smile smells of nothing but trouble."

"That's mean Cana! I came to invite you to my girls' night. I was hoping you would enjoy a night of juicy gossip."

"Mira, I'm not sure if you're aware but usually the word 'invite' typically implies that the invitee has a choice of declining. I don't need my magic to tell me that if I say no that I'll be waking up in your house in about 30 minutes."

Mirajane's only response was keeping a smile on her face. Lisanna was trying not to laugh at the lush's misfortune.

"Alright, alright, I get it. At least gimme some incentive to spill my guts out."

"I'll tell you about Natsu's love nest and mistresses."

"I'm in."

"Mira! You can't use Natsu's personal life to get gossip about others!"

"Lis, calm down. Cana and Natsu might as well be siblings with how close he and Gildarts is. There's nothing wrong with telling a sister about her brother."

"I feel like that is an extremely biased opinion Mira. Sophistry only works on people that aren't as smart as you." A voice to the side of the three girls rang out through the halls.

"Levy! You saved me time of coming to you. Come, girls' night at my house. Refusal isn't allowed."

"See, why didn't you just be that straightforward with me?"

"You should have seen what she just did to Elfman and the rest of Thunder Legion. That was Wendy level nice comparatively." Evergreen walked up to group giving her input on Mirajane's methods.

"At least the rest of you got some sort of invite, all I got was 'Kinana is coming too' when she was talking to someone else." The final attendee of the impromptu night of gossip had arrived.

"Our lack of free will aside, anyone care to tell me if there is a particular _topic_ that we will be discussing?" Cana had already gone to retrieve her overnight bag(?) that suspiciously looked like a barrel of booze.

Mirajane being the leader of the troupe only said one word. " _Dragons_."

With that one word the 5 other girls immediately knew what she was talking about. However one in the group was quickly just as confused.

"Not that I don't appreciate being invited(?) but I don't exactly fit into that category."

Without missing a beat, Mirajane responded, "While that may be true, you get an auto invite to stuff like this from now on. That's what it means to be sisters."

The smile on Mirajane's face was radiant. Evergreen was stunned for a second before tears started roll down her cheeks.

"I-I don't know what to say. I was always worried if you two would accept me or not, I know that I'm not always the most pleasant girl and then all that stuff with the festival…"

"What matters to us is where your heart is at now. Elfman is head over heels for you and so long as you can deal with his Elfman-ness while always loving and supporting him then we will always accept you."

Evergreen's smile broke across her face as she tried to wipe away her tears and before she knew it she was wrapped in a hug by both of the Strauss sisters. They stayed that way for a minute until she calmed down and when she had Cana had spoken up.

"Let's go! We have a long night of drinking and juicy secrets to uncover! It seems most of us here had had their own taste of dragon meat and can't give it up. TO THE DEMON'S DUNGEON!"

The rest of the girls giggled at her and began making their way out of the dorms.

"I feel a little bad for only inviting certain girls, maybe next month we can do a super girls night."

"Sure, as long as no one lets master or my old man know. I feel like they would put it all on the line to peep on us."

"Agreed. Well when Erza comes back we can talk to her about it. Though Natsu said to keep alcohol away from her…"

"Worry not! I'll take one for the team and drink it all before she can get any!"

The giggles of the girls had just started for the night.

* * *

Team Natsu had arrived at the village that had issued the request and had decided to spend the night there before heading out in the morning. The team, after settling into their borrowed house, had decided to go out and stretch their legs before settling down for the night and enjoy the small amenities that the village had to offer. Natsu had finished informing his team about his past 3 months on the train and each of them had their own reactions.

Gray quite possibly had the least to say with, "I see, Alvarez is doomed." While that sounds harsh, everybody know that it was all in good fun. Though it did have an underlying message to Natsu, he has a long way to go to be a good ruler and he owes it to those citizens to work hard and catch up.

Carla had ranted on about how he need to stop his shenanigans and stop running around like a hooligan if he was going to be responsible for an entire country. Happy was just making fun of him like normal trying to lighten the mood.

Wendy was amazed that he had become the emperor. In her heart she knew that there was no better possible ruler for a country that had lost their way than the man in front of her. He had the mysterious ability to bring everyone together and even turn former enemies into allies and as a ruler that was something that could be terrifying to a country's opponents. She had other feelings too, her dragon instincts were flaring up at her about picking him as an ideal mate. Outrageous power, unlimited potential, unwavering loyalty, a passion that burned as hot as his flames, and a physique that makes girls drool. She knew she was getting into dangerous territory in her thoughts considering their ages but her dragon instincts were quickly overwriting that with the thought of 'it's only 4 years'. She knew that she needed to talk to him about it but she couldn't get passed her embarrassment so she resolved herself to talk to one of the older girls when they returned after the mission.

Erza, stoic and to the point as always, informed him that if he is intent on retaining the throne he has to work hard and that slacking off was unacceptable. Also that she would happily assist him should he require it. What she didn't voice however, was that she was rather unsettled at the knowledge that Natsu would be leaving Fairy Tail. She knew that everyone goes their own separate ways in life but she couldn't put her finger on what she was feeling. However one feeling came though clear as day even if she didn't understand why yet, she did not want to be separated from Natsu.

Lucy was a mass of conflicted emotions. On one hand she was proud of her best friend and on the other she knew that he would be leaving and her heart hurt at the thought of being separated from him. She had only recently come to terms with her feelings for the man only to find out that he was going off to another country. While outwardly Natsu was unsure, she knew that that with there being so many people depending on him there was no way he would be able to ignore them. It was one of the many things she loved about him and how she knew that he would be a fantastic ruler. Her heart was already set on following him but despite that she didn't know how she could bear leaving all her friends behind. At this time she was still owed an additional explanation so she decided to wait until she heard him out completely before she made any concrete plans.

Not surprisingly nobody had brought up anything about his supposed immortality but he could see in their eyes that they understood why he had hid it from them. They just genuinely didn't know what to say. Which was fine, he still didn't know how to deal with it and it was he himself that it affected the most. He knew that it would take time for him to adjust to his longevity and it likely wouldn't even really kick in until he started to see signs of his friends' age around him. To be honest he had started making plans to just leave and go to Alvarez so that they could adjust sooner. That plan was shattered the moment he looked into Mirajane's sapphire eyes in the infirmary. He knew that if he went through with it the shining light in those eyes would go out and that in itself was something he'd be willing to kill over. It was an impossible thing for him to be the one to cause it to happen.

After he had finished his tale, without words, Lucy had wanted him to fill him in on the rest of the information she was missing on him. While he was willing to tell, he had asked her to wait until they had arrived at the village. They were about to switch trains and the new one didn't have the motion sickness lacrima so he was about to become 'useless' as Happy called it. Understanding his oncoming plight, she agreed on the condition that he lets her give him a lap pillow instead of Erza. He agreed saying that he was still spoiling her until he told her anyway. So they had spent the last leg of their train ride with Natsu burying his face into Lucy's stomach and Lucy playing with his hair with a content smile on her face. Neither noticed the reactions from Erza or Wendy. Erza was visibly confused because her lap felt strangely empty and Wendy's eyes were fierce with jealousy with her cheeks puffed up.

* * *

After they had settled in, Natsu had decided to go out for a walk to get the fresh air to settle his stomach and he invited Lucy to go with him. Erza accented to his choice stating that she was going to look around to see if she could get any more information out of the residents and do a once over of their general supplies. She had Wendy accompany her so that she could get even more experience with the different aspects of S class missions. The Exceeds decided to go out on their own walk and Gray decided to turn in early. With each member with their own plans, they separated and went their own ways.

As Natsu and Lucy made their way through the village checking out various things and stalls Lucy had resumed her spoiled behavior. Natsu had started making his way out of town towards a grassy field that he had seen on their way into town, Lucy, not really caring where they went, just went along with him. Eventually they came to a stop and Natsu pulled a blanket out of his storage space and spread it out before picking up Lucy and laying them both down on it. Giggling at Natsu's sudden burst of romanticism but thoroughly enjoying it, she just decided to snuggle down into him as he wrapped his arm around her.

"So, as much as I enjoy getting spoiled I think I'll take my explanation now. I don't want it to interfere with our mission with my mind being preoccupied."

"Oh, mental preparation. We might make an S class mage out of you yet!"

"S class is your dream dummy, I know I'm not ready for that yet but I'll get there. Just you watch!"

"Ah, speaking of which. I found out that as Emperor I can make myself an S class mage of Alvarez and have it formally recognized in Fiore."

"Isn't that an abuse of power?!"

"Ordinarily, but I have the feats to back up my claim. Namely beating the previous emperor who happened to be the Black Wizard Zeref and Acnologia, both of which were SSS rank targets. Not to mention the taking down of the leaders of the Balam Alliance. Hisui said with these achievements alone I could be qualified to be one of the Four Gods of Ishgar. The only thing that's holding me back is my years of experience. Well aside from being the emperor of another country. Can't be a God of Ishgar if I'm living on Alakitasia."

"I see. I guess I can't really argue then."

"Don't worry about it, I'd rather be named an S class mage of Fairy Tail anyway. It has special meaning to me. Besides, have you noticed the power difference between S class mages of Fairy Tail compared to other guilds? During the Grand Magic Games our A class mages that had been locked away for 7 years and with only 3 months, or 5 days for us, managed to match or exceed the other guilds top mages. Even you who at the time was at best a high C or low B class was dominating in your fight with that Flare chick."

"That's because Fairy Tail is the greatest! I'm really glad I met you that day in Hargeon and went with you." Her embarrassment at her confession showed with the reddening of her cheeks but she didn't stop there. She crawled up his body and gave him a kiss on the cheek before climbing back down and burying her face in his chest.

Natsu just smiled down at her as she hid. "Well I guess I better tell you before it gets too late and Erza comes looking for us. That wouldn't be fun." The only response was the blonde nodding her head, still too embarrassed from her own actions to meet his eyes.

"Well I'm pretty sure Levy has already told you some stuff about dragon slayers and their mates. That they find their one mate and if they manage to win their heart they stay absolutely loyal to them and only them. Should the unfortunate event that their mates pass away before them, if they are so inclined and still in their prime years they can take another as long as they both share a strong bond. Though they wouldn't ever forget their first mate, but they can move on as long as their new mate is supportive and understanding."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what she told me. Out of curiosity what about Wendy? Is it different for female dragon slayers?"

"Hmm, I can't say I fully understand it but from my understanding that mysterious sixth sense that all women have that Mira called "woman's intuition" is like mega powered up for female dragon slayers when they start thinking about finding their mate. Meaning that they can tell whether a guy even meets their own subconscious standards just by spending a little time with them. Frankly it's rather terrifying if you ask me. And with Wendy's own natural ability to read people it's probably that much stronger in her. Unlike the males, female slayers and even dragons, they won't typically get a second mate if theirs die before them. I couldn't tell you why, I don't even pretend to understand normal girls much less girl dragon slayers."

"Hehe, that's okay Natsu. Sometimes girls don't understand girls."

"That's not really a comforting thought… Anyway, these mating instincts are true for all of the 'first generation' slayers and even those two dweebs in Sabertooth since they received their magic from a dragon originally. The 'second generation' like Laxus and Cobra aren't bound to the instincts and behaviors that we are but they still get the impulses depending on how in tune they are with the lacrima."

"I see. Well from the way you are talking about the other slayers it seems like you're different. How?"

She had looked back up at Natsu when she asked her question and he met her with a smirk. "As smart as you are beautiful. Yeah, as you guessed I'm different. I, unlike any other known dragon slayer in history, was given my magic by a dragon king. While other dragon kings might have been on the humans' side during the war, Igneel was the only one we know of to take on a slayer."

"So I guess your magic was different, but how did that affect your other traits and instincts?"

"Hmm, well as you saw before I can used dragon king level slayer magic. The others could potentially train enough to be able to do it but for me I managed to do it in less than a year. It could take them up to 10 and Laxus and Cobra can never do it because their lacrima's don't allow for it. As for the part you're curious about, for the most part the behavioral traits are the same but to be honest most of them I still had to learn about myself, even Igneel didn't know what could be different or not. However the one major thing I found that was different was my mating habits. I have multiple mates or rather the potential for multiple. Where Gajeel would have felt satisfied or complete when he mated with Levy and would never look at another girl like that again, I didn't."

"Wait, you mean you've mated with someone?!" Lucy raised herself up and stared into his eyes to see if he was just messing with her. When she saw no signs of it she felt a violent mix of anger and sadness. With a hint of shame for having been acting the way she had been. "Natsu if you have someone then why are being like this with me? I didn't take you for this kind of guy."

"That's part of why I told you that I need to tell you everything before you decided anything with me and you deserve better. I'm not happy about that fact but it isn't exactly an instinct I can ignore. Just like humans have a base instinct to reproduce, to a dragon and especially a dragon king, that instinct is amplified to the extreme. I know this sounds arrogant but human girls can't keep up with me if you know what I mean. I think she said that my sexual appetite is bigger than my normal appetite. As weird as it sounds I think the only person that potentially could have satisfied me by herself was Irene and that's only because she literally had the stamina of a dragon. The awkwardness of having sex with Erza's mom aside, she isn't exactly an option anymore so I'm in the terrible situation of staying faithful and risking my sanity by fighting my base instincts or breaking the girl I love, or be in a polyamorous relationship doing everything I can to make my mates happy to make up for my inability to dedicate myself to just one of them. I hate myself for it but the thought of hurting someone I love is unfathomable and inversely any girl that I would choose as my mate wouldn't want me to risk my own well-being."

"I-I see… If you were any other guy I'd kick you in the balls and never look at you again but I know in my heart that you aren't that type of person. This whole time you've avoided saying the girl's name and you've never acted like a jerk just because you do have a girl. I have a hunch that you aren't done explaining things to me though. So hurry up and tell me, my heart is hurting right now and I don't know how long I can take it. What about how you choose your mates."

"Sorry, I didn't want to hurt you. Again, this is why I said you deserve better than someone like me. Anyway, my mates have to be someone that I have a genuine bond with. It isn't going to be someone that I just met. Beyond that, my instincts tell me if she is compatible with me. I couldn't tell you what it's based on though, I just know. I know that is a terrible explanation but it's the best I got. On that note, there is such a thing as level of compatibility. Meaning that there is a girl that is the best possible match for me that will carry my heir, a queen if you will."

"You know who your queen is don't you? And it's not me or the girl you've already mated with. If I had to guess it would be the girl that has your scarf right now."

Natsu could only respond with a small smile at first, he knew that Lucy was really smart but she had been picking up on things and figuring it out all along. It was one the things that made him want to claim her and keep her to himself. Dragons are notoriously greedy.

"And how do you feel about that? Make no mistake Luce, I want you, but as you guessed, you're not my queen. I'm sorry, it's not something that I can control but I do know why that person was selected as my queen. It's a bit ironic really."

Lucy didn't answer immediately, instead electing to just lay her head on his chest to give herself time to think and after a couple minutes she started drawing lines in his abs. After she had thought it over, she climbed up onto his chest fully laying on him and looking down into his eyes. "My mom always told me to find my own happiness. I've found it and I don't intend to let go." With that she leaned down and stopped when their lips met. Without missing a beat he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. The two could feel each other's smile as they kept exploring their partner's mouths. After a few moments the need for oxygen called a truce their face battle.

"I'll take my kiss and be content for now. I feel like if I take anymore before you can claim your queen she wouldn't forgive me. But, I am yours Natsu Dragneel, you better not let me go."

"You like reading, can you tell me of any story of a dragon letting go of his treasure? I was willing to fight the entire kingdom when you were just a guild mate, imagine what I would do for someone that has ahold of my heart."

"As a woman, that excites me. As a human, that terrifies me."

"Welcome to the rest of your life my Celestial Princess." Leaning up and giving her one last kiss before getting her off of him so they could stand up. "It's about time to head back. My Erza danger senses are going off."

"Have you really angered her enough times to the point you can tell when she's coming?"

"Luce, I tracked her from a crowed resort across the ocean to an island in the middle of nowhere miles off the coast. It's impossible for me not know she's coming. That and even among all the peoples scents that I've come across, hers has a specific trait to it that I've only discovered recently what it is but it's not something I could ever mistake, especially now."

"Really? I must say that has me curious Natsu. You have informed before from a previous inquiry that my scent was that of strawberries, steel and roses. You never mention anything about an additional scent." As they started walking back, Erza had approached them and heard the last part of their conversation.

"That's because while I recognized it, it didn't make sense that you would have that smell so I could never put it together but I always knew it was there. Now, it completely makes sense to me."

"Oh, well you have my attention. Do tell."

Natsu just smirked at reaction. While to most it would seem that she was being demanding, he could easily tell that she was really curious and excited at something new. "I'm not sure how it will make you feel, but you smell like a dragon. You have dragon blood in you and you're not the only one, gramps and Laxus do too. It was hard to tell past their magic, but it's there. I have no clue why though."

"OH! I think I can answer that. Or at least it's a theory." Lucy excitedly piped up. Neither of her companions said anything but looked at her with curious looks which she returned with a cocky smile.

"Remember when the First was telling us about how the founders liberated Magnolia?"

"Yeah." "Yes."

"Well when she cast Law she said that Yuri, master's father and Laxus's great-grandfather, had fused with the dragon bones because of the Tenrou Jade. Maybe after they were separated some of the dragon magic remained in him and it got passed on genetically. That could explain why Laxus is so good with his dragon slayer magic despite him being a second generation."

"I see. That is indeed a plausible theory Lucy. Perhaps we should speak with Master and inform him of this. Perhaps he will have some insight for us."

"No." At Natsu's sudden denial Lucy and Erza's excited mood had suddenly turned to confusion. "I'm fine with us telling gramps and Laxus but absolutely do not mention this to anyone else… ever. In fact the next time I got to the palace I'll have to tell Toma and have him start securing the dragon remains below the arena."

"Natsu, what's wrong?"

With a serious look, he turned his head towards Lucy. "Luce, if that theory proves to be true and the wrong person hears it I can almost guarantee that someone will abuse it. I can't even imagine the horrors people might end up being subject to try and recreate those results."

"Natsu I understand your concerns, however it was my understanding that the Tenrou Jade was destroyed in the process."

"Erza, it's a big world. I'm sure there are other similar artifacts out there. That and I wouldn't put it past dark mages to try and just recreate the Jade either. It's just full of terrible possibilities."

"I see, you are correct. Very well then, upon returning we will inform master and I will leave you to inform the king. I am impressed by your foresight Natsu. I do not think you would have put this much thought into something like this before."

"Well, I am the ruler of a country now. I have to think of the citizens and protect them from potential threats. I'm still new at it but that is no excuse to be lax. Speaking of, it's late, I assume that's why you came to get us. Let's head back and get a good night's rest, there's some monsters need their butt kicked tomorrow."

"Indeed, those scum will not know what hit them." Erza's smile spelled doom for the monsters.

"Say Erza, how about we have a little competition. Whoever beats the most monsters gets to boss the loser around for a day."

"Natsu," Erza's cold voice rang out in the cool night air. "After everything we have been though and all of your maturing and you still have this mindset? I am shocked and astounded… that you think you have a chance of beating me. I will not go easy on you just because you are royalty." In the middle Erza speech she turned her head towards her challenger with a mocking smirk on her face. Her spirt of competiveness running rampant around her.

Natsu returned her expression with one of his own. "That's the dragon blood in you Erza, you can't let a good challenge go unanswered. I'm all fired up now!"

Lucy, watching the two longtime friends with a smile on her face, was still a little sad. She knew that Natsu would be leaving for Alvarez soon and leaving his friends behind. While he could make friends with pretty much anyone she knew it wouldn't be the same as with the people that grew up with him. After thinking about it for a minute she decided to put those thoughts behind her for now, she knew she needed to be focused for the mission tomorrow.

Running up and grabbing onto Natsu's arm, Lucy spoke out, "Come on guys, we're leaving poor Wendy with Gray and Carla must be at her wits end with Happy by now."

With that the 3 friends headed back to their borrowed house for the night. The nest of monsters never knew what hit them the next day.


End file.
